As someone who’s always lived his life somewhat unconventionally – I’ve been a professional actor, am a trained circus clown, web developer and strategist, producer of underground performance and free culture activist – I’ve always placed great value on doing things “my way,” as opposed to following a prescribed course. Whether in school, my career, or personal relationships, defining my own path has been a personal priority since I was a teenager. In 1981, as a junior in a suburban Boston public high school, I dropped out in order to work for a year to save tuition to attend a more progressive, arts-oriented private school. Even at this age, I was dissatisfied with the prescribed path, and with the quality of my education. Within a year, I had enough money to attend the private school, where I thrived. This was an important lesson that taught me that perseverance and belief are key ingredients in success and that, ultimately, it is up to oneself to decide how his life will play out. During this period of my life, I was heavily influenced by the ideas and ideals of punk rock – particularly those of The Clash’s Joe Strummer – that advocated a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to music, art and life. These ideas formed the groundwork for my intellectual development.
Hamletmachine 1986
After high school, I attended NYU as a theatre major at the Experimental Theatre Wing. In my sophomore year, I was cast in an NYU production of Hamletmachine, directed by visiting auteur/director Robert Wilson. After the show moved from NYU to enjoy a successful Off-Broadway run, I left NYU and continued working with Wilson in his upcoming production of the opera Salomé, at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy and on a European tour of Hamletmachine in the fall of 1987. Working with Wilson – considered a radical performance artist in the 60’s and now contracted by major theatres and opera houses throughout the world – shattered my conceptions of what art (and theatre in particular) could be. His early works, especially, and his collaborations with Philip Glass, David Byrne, and Laurie Anderson made me realize how theatre could successfully collaborate with other forms of art and media and remix themselves into entire new and unique works. Wilson’s work in particular had a huge influence on my later interest in collaborative art and remix culture; for his works are “essentially vast assemblages which he creates out of initially unrelated images, actions and activities, sounds and words. Like a collage, his theatre admits all manner of matter and inspiration – a picture he saw in that morning’s newspaper, an image he dreamed the previous night, a postcard brought in by a performer, a scenic element from his last production – virtually anything that seizes his imagination.” (Shyer xvii). His work also led me to take and interest in other postmodern artists like Brian Eno, John Cage, Susan Sontag, Jean-Paul Basquiat, and Kathy Acker.
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